Ercrombie



(No Model.)

W. R. ABEROROMBIE. RUFPLER FOR SEWING MAGHINES.

Patented Jan. 1, 1895 v BY UNITED STATES PATENT Fries- WVILLIAM ROBERTABERCROMBIE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE )VHEELER doNILSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME A .PLACE.

RUFFLER FOR SEWING-MACH|NES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,988, dated January1, 1895. Application filed May 25, 1894. $erial No. 512,396. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: B and the lug l of the presser foot, a rightBe it known that I, \VILLIAM ROBERT AB- angled projection of the upperend of the ERCROMBIE, a citizen of the United States,and pendulum footis turned back to overlie, but aresident of Bridgeport,in the county ofFairstand apart from, the shank or body of the field and State ofConnecticut, have'invented same, and the pivot hole' made through both 55 certain new and usefullmprovements in Rufthe body and the overlyingend, as may be fiers for Sewiug-Machines,o which the followseen in Figs.4 and 5. Through this hole a ing is a specification. pivot screw isinserted and solidly secured,

The object of my invention is to produce a by a suitable check nut, tothe lug 1 of the ruiiiler which willproduce full and scant presser footA. As thus secured it will be 60 ruffling with equal regularity; whichhas the seen that the crimping blade F attached to least possible amountof friction in its operthe lower end of the pendulum foot is alatingparts, that it may be easily propelled; lowed a free forward andbackward moveits parts made interchangeable, that the necment in thedirection of the line of sewing,

r 5 essarily frail parts may be readily replaced while it is yet heldsecurely against any side 5 when dulled or broken, and that is capableof movement without the employment of the running at the highest speedattainable by usual guideways and the excessive friction power-drivenmachines without injury to itresulting therefrom. self or the sewingmachine to which it is at- To the backwardly projecting lug 2 of thecached. I obtain these objects by the mechpresser foot B is pivotallyattached the seg- 70 anism illustrated in the accompanying drawmentlever D, (see Fig. 1) by means of the ings, in which screw 0 and achecknut, (not shown,) and by Figure 1 shows my rufller secured to a sewmeansof a screw P (and check nut), the oping machine, ready for use. Fig. 2is a side crating link C is secured to the upper end of elevation of thepresser'foot, detached, and the segment lever, as shown in the samedraw- 75 Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. at is a side ing. Thesegment lever is provided with a elevation of the pendulum foot, andFig. 5 is a slot 4 into which is loosely fitted a shouldered plan of thesame. Fig. 6 is aplan of the sepaand threaded stud, shown in Fig. 7,upon the rator plate. Fig. 7 is a detail view of the adthreaded end ofwhich is placed a thumb nut,

justing stud and nut. Fig. Sis a detail view by which the stud may beheld in any desired 80 of the segment lever, and Fig. 9 is a detailposition in the slot.

View of the operating stud. By means of the connection E, I connect Theresser-foot A is substituted for, sethe pendulum foot 13 with thesegment lever cured in the same manner and serves the same D, one endbeing pivotally attached to the 3 5 purpose (as far as affects thesewing), as the pendulum foot, by the large headed screw m, 85presser-foot (proper) of the sewing machine, which prevents lateralmovement, and the but is formed with two projecting lugs, 1 and hole inthe other end embracing the protrud- 2,to support the operating parts ofthe ruting stud K secured in the segment lever D. fler, and a rightangled projection from its The separator plate, so called, is a steelfront end, as shown in Fig. 2, to which, by plate shaped as shown inFig. 6, to one end of 0 means of screws, is attached a thin, flexible,which is attached a plate of thinner steel, toothed spring, G, which Iterm a retaining having the desirable flexibility, which serves blade,the purpose of which will be hereinafas the separator,proper. Thisseparator plate ter described. To the forwardly projecting is detachablysecured to the presser foot A, a

4 5 lug l is pivotally attached the pendulum foot, rib, depressed in theplate entering a corre- 5 B, and to the right angled projection at thesponding groove in the top of the foot, a notch lower end of the latter,by means of screws, in the plate embracing athreaded stud alfixed isattached a toothed crimping blade F. to the foot, and all held inposition by a To obtain the desirable stability of the pivthumb nut uponsaid stud, all as shown in otal connection between the pendulum footFig. 1. too

To actuate the ruffler I attach, by means of a set screw, to the lowerend of the needle bar, the collar L, Fig. 9, having a projecting studwhich enters the hole in the end of the operating link 0, as seen inFig. 1. Then thus connected it will be seen that the vertical movementof the needle bar will impart an oscillatory movement to the segmentlever, which, in turn, through the connection E, will imparta swingingmovement to the pendulum foot and a vibrating movement to the crimpingblade F attached to its lower end.

As is well understood it is the office of the crimping blade to seize aportion of the fabric which is to be ruffied and carry it forward to, alittle faster than the feed, proper, of the sewing machine carries thestitched fabric away from, the needle, thus forcing the fabric intoslight crimps or larger plaits, as may be desired,before being stitched.To perform this function properly the crimping blade must perform bothits forward and backward movement while the needle is out of, and remainpractically stationary while the needle is in, the fabric. This isaccomplished perfectly by the compound action of the operating link 0and the segment lever D as follows:-When in its action the needle barhas brought the operating link into a horizontal position it will beseen that all the operating parts of the ruffler, except the connectedend of the operating link C, will remain practically at rest during aconsiderable portion of the movement of the bar. This period of restoccurs when the needle bar is near the lower extremity of its movementand while the needle is entering and receding from the fabric; but asthe needle bar rises and approaches the upward limit of its movement thesegment lever is drawn into the position shown in full lines, and thecrimping blade thereby forced back, while the descent of the barreverses the movement and forces the segment lever into the positionindicated by dotted lines, carrying the crimping blade forward; themovement in both directions taking place while the bar is near theupward extremity. of its movement and consequently while the needle isfree from the fabric. The movement being imparted to the operating partsin this manner by the operating link it will be seen that the impetusgiven to said parts to bring them into action is so exceedingly gradualthat any shock is impossible, though driven at the highest rate ofspeed, and the durability correspondingly great. As shown in Fig. 1, theadjusting stud K, which serves to join the segment lever D and theconnection 0, is secured about midway in the length of the slot 4, butby changing the height of the stud in the slot (its thumb nut beingprovided for that purpose), the throw of the crimping blade may bevaried and hence the fullness of the ruffle regulated as desired.

The parts are so constructed that when the adjusting stud K is set nearthe lower end of the slot 4, where required for ruffling with the leastpossible fullness, the crimping blade will advance only far enough tocarry the slight wave or crimp of the rufiie past the needle, that theneedle may just step over the crimp so formed at each stitch, by whichmeans only can accurate scant ruffiingbe pro"- duced. When greaterfullness is desired, however, especially where so great that the crimpor gather will be formed into an overlapping fold or plait, the crimpingblade must not only recede farther to seize a greater length of ruffle,but must also advance farther that the needle may puncture and stitchthe three ply of ruffle so formed and thus retain it in position. It isfound that the best proportionate increase in each direction is for theblade to recede two-thirds and advance one third of the increased amountof its throw. This result is obtained by the shape, or more properly thepitch or inclination of the slot 4 in the segment lever D its pitchbeing such that as the stud K is moved upward it is carried also to theright; thereby notonly increasing, but also automatically locating theposition of the throw so as to produce th e best results through all thevarying range from the most scant to the very fullest ruffling. An indexstamped upon the side of the segment lever D, as shown in Fig. 8, isprovided for accuracy and convenience in adjustment.

In the operation of the ruffler, if it is desired to gather a ruffie andstitch it to a plain piece, called a band, as is well understood thepiece to be gathered is inserted below the crimping blade F and abovethe separator H, while the band is placed beneath the separa tor, thatit may be protected from the action of the crimping blade; while ifdesirable to gather and sew the ruffleonly, the band is omitted, and theseparator serves to protect the crimping blade from injury by contactwith the feed points of the machine.

Now in the production of perfect ruffling it is evident that thecrimping blade must always move the same distance to produce uniformgathers, and must also press downward sufficiently that it may not slipupon the ruffle but always carry it forward the full length of itsstroke. If, however, the down ward pressure is very great, as rufflershave been heretofore constructed, there is too much tenden cy to drawback the ruffle as the crimping blade recedes and thus destroy theaccuracy of the ruffiing. It is usually sought to prevent this by havingthe front end of the presser foot cut away underneath to form a slightcavity into which the crimp may be forced by the point of the crimpingblade, but this only serves properly for a certain size of crimp. If asmaller crimp is made it is but loosely held and the cavity does notserve its purpose; while if larger crimps are made, as for full milling,the cavity is too small and the crimping blade must overcome the entirepressure of the presser bar spring of the sew- ICO in g machine inforcing the crimp beneath the foot, thus often injuring the crimpingblade which, on account of the desirable flexibility, is necessarilyfrail. This difliculty is overcome in my ruffler by the use of theretaining blade G. As seen most clearly in Fig. 2, the front end of thepresser foot is cut away heneath to form a cavity larger than requiredfor the largest crimp or fold, and into this cavity the end of theretaining blade extends. Its exact position is such that when set forthe scantiest rufiiing the crimping blade will carry the fine crimp justbeyond its forward end, where by the retaining blade the crimp is held,to prevent its Withdrawal by the return movement of the crimping blade.The retaining blade is of such flexibility as to readily yield andpermit the entrance of all sizes of crimps without injury to thecrimping blade.

By the use of the retaining blade I am enabled to set the crimping bladeso that it will impinge with greater force upon the fabric and carry thecrimp forward with much more certainty, and yet prevent the possibilityof any displacement of the crimp by the return movement of the blade.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The presser foot A, with its forwardly and rearwardly projecting lugsl and 2, its 3:;

forwardly projecting extension for supporting the retaining blade G, incombination with the pendulum foot B, connection E, adjusting stud andnut K, segment lever D, and operating link 0, all connected andoperating substantially as described.

2. The presser foot A, with its forwardly and rearwardly projecting lugsl and 2, and itsforwardly projectin g extension for supporting theretaining blade G, in combination with the pendulum foot B, the crimpingblade F and the retaining blade G, all constructed and operatingsubstantially as described.

3. The presser foot A, with its forwardly and rearwardly projecting lugs1 and 2 and its forwardly projecting extension for supporting theretaining blade G in combination with the pendulum-foot B, the crimpingblade F, the retaining blade G and the separator plate H, allconstructed and operating substantially as described.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, this 23d day of May, A. D. 1894.

WILLIAM ROBERT ABERCROMBIE.

Witnesses:

F. HURD, A. STEWARD.

